


it's nine o'clock on a saturday

by IKHoldrige73



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, bartender!AU, so here i wrote it, the prompt was beautiful and i needed it like air
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-20
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-13 22:51:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2168199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IKHoldrige73/pseuds/IKHoldrige73
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto Tachibana works at a bar, and there's always this group of loud men in one corner. They're not annoying per se, but their latest mission has become quite hilarious for him--so much he has to hide inside the fridge for twenty minutes at once. </p>
<p>Haruka Nanase doesn't need a boyfriend. </p>
<p>But his friends still kind of get him one. </p>
<p>You know, just not the way they wanted. </p>
<p>(aka--How Makoto had the time of his life watching as Haruka's friends tried so hard to get him a proper date, and how they all failed at it.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's nine o'clock on a saturday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [supercaptainsugarpants.tumblr.com](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=supercaptainsugarpants.tumblr.com).



> Oh my duck, I did it!
> 
> supercaptainsugarpants idea was absolutely lovely and I was so excited about it I actually needed to write it! I dunno if this was what they wanted, but here’s my take on the bartender!au
> 
> Hope y’all enjoy!

They always come in at around nine—depends on the day, really, but he’s sure nine is the correct hour—and Makoto is their usual bartender.

(He will  _never_ again try to beat Taiga at rock-paper-scissors. That’s a promise.) 

The blond one—Nagisa; the bartender would know from a mile away already—is the loudest of them all, making a fuss about absolutely  _everything_ , and is probably the only reason why the rest of them meet in the same bar Saturday after Saturday. He’s quite hilarious—on the good days—and Tachibana knows he, at least, leaves a good tip at the end.

 

Then there’s the guy with glasses—he still can’t decide if that one’s  _Rei_  or  _Rin_ —who’s always following behind Nagisa like his life actually depends on it. From what information he’s gathered from the pair, he thinks they’re  _probably_  dating or something, but it’s rude to assume, so Makoto leaves that part to Souji most of the time.

(Doesn’t mean he doesn’t  _believe_ it. He just likes to push the blame on other people.)

The tricky part comes with the red haired guy— _Rei_ or  _Rin_?—since him and the spectacled guy have really similar names and he never manages to know who is who. Either way, Taiga refers to him as ‘Sharky’ and that’s how Makoto has been calling the loud, angry man in his head—far away from knowing ears that might get him fired.

(He might’ve let it slip once when he was giving Sharky’s boyfriend the tab, but Tachibana has banned his co-workers from uttering a single word about that.)

Then comes Sharky’s boyfriend, who is usually the designated driver—or so the group of bartenders have guessed—whose name is easier to remember, since they usually refer to him as ‘Ai’ and that’s a short, simple name Makoto has had the bliss to learn after the first three visits. He’s way quieter than his life partner—Tachibana has  _seen_  the ring, there’s no doubt those two are getting married soon—and he’s an expert at keeping the other three at bay when drunk.

Lastly—and definitely not least—there’s the guy with the dark hair and the blue eyes.

Makoto is smitten with him—or so Souji likes to assure him once in a while—and the bartender enjoys having him around the bar whenever he comes. Haruka is his name, and his friends like to tease him on being the only one of their group to not be paired up. He’s pretty quiet—mellow throughout their stay—and never gives Ai a hard time. Tachibana guesses that’s mainly the reason why he likes him so much.

(Mainly because he doesn’t like giving Seta any chance to be  _right_. Then he gets insufferable, and Makoto hates having to fend off a cocky Souji all by himself.)

It’s an especially tranquil Saturday night when Nagisa bursts through the doors, followed closely by Specs and being reprimanded by a quiet Ai, whose boyfriend is looking more and more annoyed by the second. Haruka comes at the end, rolling his eyes at the rest of his party before joining Ai’s pleading with a soft murmur of his own.

“Your regulars are here,” Taiga announces, like Tachibana hadn’t noticed the group of loud people coming through the door, and pats the space between his shoulder blades where it  _hurts_  “Time to shine, Banana.”

And of course it is.

Makoto slides over to the side of the bar they always occupy—a small space at the end of the wooden surface where he prepares drinks—and puts on his best smile.

“Good night,” he greets, pulling out the ingredients to prepare each of their common drinks “Should I get you the normal?”

Ai is the first to react, smiling a smile of his own as he sits down in the bar stool next to his boyfriend. Sharky gets a secure arm around the grey haired man’s waist, and scoots closer to him, almost possessively—Makoto thinks the red haired doesn’t like him very much; he doesn’t dwell much on it—before the smaller man can scoff at him and tell him to quit the tantrum.

(Their relationship is quite funny, Tachibana realizes, because although Ai is small, he’s pretty sure  _he_ ’s the one to call the shots around their house.)

“The normal sounds great,” Ai finally says, pushing his boyfriend’s—fiancé’s?—hand off his waist and leaning forward “Get us an extra drink, too, Makoto” he asks politely “We’re expecting someone else.”

That’s when Haruka actually  _scoffs_  at the grey haired man, looking away from the bartender the moment green eyes settle on him, and Makoto is a bit taken aback.

Nagisa lurches towards the black haired man and secures an arm around his chest, pulling him backward to hug him one-sidedly “Don’t be mad, Haru!” he chirps happily “We’re trying to get you a  _boyfriend_! Don’t go around looking so angry!”

(Tachibana doesn’t know why  _that_  makes his heart sink a bit.)

Haruka rolls his eyes and wiggles out of the blond man’s reach, sitting back in his stool and scooting as  _far away as humanly possible_  from his excitable friend “I didn’t ask any of you to get me a boyfriend.”

Specs choses this moment to give his two cents, grabbing a fistful of Nagisa’s bright, pink shirt and pulling him back down unto his seat “I advise you leave Haruka as he is—one more word and it looks like I will be sleeping alone tonight.”

Tachibana smiles softly, and quickly turns away so the bar’s patrons can’t see him. He busies himself with the drinks, automatically adding and shaking things as he mulls over the simple recipes under his breath.

The conversation goes on behind him, and the bartender chooses to ignore it—because it’s easier to concentrate, and he really doesn’t want to look like he’s eavesdropping—in favor of finishing the last details of their drinks. He manages to catch Ai saying something about this ‘guy’ being absolutely wonderful and how Haruka will most definitely adore him—the black haired man insists then that  _no_ , he did not need a boyfriend, who even asked you?

Makoto slides the drink down on the bar again, giving them to their respective owners with a soft smile on his face.

—

A while later he is holed up in the backroom’s fridge, trying to control his laughter.

It’s obvious Haruka’s date is going positively  _awful_ —and he  _does_  have it in him to feel bad about laughing—because the one thing that sent him into a laughing fit was the obvious signs of a dark eyebrow twitching in annoyance as the other man goes on and on about god knows what.

(Souji is pounding on the door by now, but Makoto can’t bring himself to stop laughing.)

—

Fast forward to the next Saturday and Tachibana is biting the inside of his cheeks in hopes of not grinning like an idiot.

Today was Nagisa’s turn to pick a date for Haruka, and this one might be worse than the one Ai recommended. The brunet man is not even  _speaking_ , and blue eyes are staring at him across the table like Nanase—he found out his last name!—is expecting the other to combust into a pile of dust suddenly.

(No luck so far.)

Makoto tries to help a little, offering them topics of conversations they can grab unto, but they all die out before he’s back to mixing drinks. He takes his sweet time with going back to the table, hoping the ice might be broken without him around, but he only comes back to a very upset brunet and a long-gone Haruka.

(He offers the unfortunate date—Ryou—a ride back home, and realizes the guy is a total sweetheart. He thinks he’s getting him a proper date soon.)

—

Sharky’s suggestion is absolutely  _hilarious_  to see.

The guy’s handsome, as tall as Taiga maybe, and is an absolute jerk.

Makoto over hears Rin—he’s sure it’s Rin, thank you very much—saying Sousuke, the unfortunate date for that Saturday, has been his best friend since forever and that he will hit it off with Haruka  _instantly_.

The bartender thinks Sharky needs a vocab check, because the only way Haruka and Sousuke hit it off, is when they start insulting each other in the most imaginative ways possible.

(Tachibana is really,  _really_  glad he’s not the only one laughing by now.)

—

Rei’s date recommendation doesn’t even make it to the restaurant.

(Makoto wills himself not to ask, and then has to stop Taiga from asking.

He’s still very much amused.)

—

“You’re early today,” Makoto wipes the bar clean, like its usual, and raises a questioning eyebrow at the sitting black haired man before him “Where are the others?”

Haruka scoffs silently, almost amused, as he leans on his elbows and shrugs “Rei and Rin are late from work.”

Tachibana hums, grabbing a glass and pouring some water. “And so the other two are waiting, no?” He offers the drink to Nanase, who takes it and stares at it for a while.

They fall into silence as Makoto looks around himself. He notices the bar is pretty quiet tonight—might be because of the early hour, who knows—and the bartender is briefly content with it. He doesn’t like crowded nights, but calm nights like these often bring him small tips and small tips do  _not_  pay the rent.

Green eyes fall back on the slender frame and he smiles “No date tonight?”

Haruka doesn’t look very amused, but he plays along “After last Saturday’s fiasco?” he lets out a laugh through his nose—unamused, still “No, thank you.”

Makoto laughs—actually  _laughs_  without having to run away to hide in the fridge—and leans forward on the wooden surface “Not your type?”

“Not really.”

“What  _is_  your type, Haruka?”

Nanase seems a bit taken a back—if being called by his name or the nature of the question, Makoto is not sure—but he doesn’t lose his footing for even a second. “Tall.”

“The guy with the Caribbean eyes  _was_  tall.”

“Brunet.”

“What about Ryou?”

“Should I be worried about you and how you seem to know all of my dates?”

Tachibana cracks a smile, leans his head to one side and shrugs “I  _do_  work here, you know?”

Haruka makes a sound—something like ‘point taken’—and turns away from the bartender.

(Makoto doesn’t want their chat to end.)

“So,” he tries again “tall and brunet? That’s your type?” the bartender mocks a disappointed frown “That’s pretty general.”

The black haired male looks like he is about to roll his eyes, but there’s definitely some amusement there now. “I like green eyes.”

And  _that_  makes Makoto lose  _his_  footing—quite literally too. The brunet slips on thin air, and only manages to brace the bar before hitting face first against it. There’s a quick blush spreading across his cheeks, and he ducks his head in hopes of Haruka not seeing it. He’s been trying to play it cool—and oh god, why is he such an idiot sometimes?

“Lunch tomorrow?”

Green eyes rise from where they are fixed in the wood before them—once he manages to stabilize himself, of course—and he smiles sheepishly. “Does four sound good? I have class at two thirty.”

Haruka nods “Four it is. Should I pick you up here or…?”

Makoto straightens up, still looking flustered and embarrassed beyond belief “I can give you my address—if you’d like?”

(Tachibana really,  _really_  hates the way his legs feel like jelly when Nanase smiles at him that way—oh god damn it all.)

—

**+1**

Rin is pissed off, Ai knows just by looking at his frozen frame before him, but there’s hardly any reason for him to be. His best friend just landed himself a  _date_  on his own, and  _that was what they were after, weren’t they_?

(Nitori thinks his fiancé is a total idiot sometimes, but whatever, he’s engaged to the man.)

“Pay up, Rin-Rin!” Nagisa chirps happily, leaning over to stretch his open palm “I _won!_ ”

Ah, of course. 


End file.
